Hub-mounted wheel wrench



Patented Jan. 18, 1949 UNITED .STATES PATENT {OFFICE- I V I V 2,459,672I I HUB-MOUNTED WHEEL WRENCH Jesse L Morseli, Douglas, Wyo. IApplication Mam, 1947,1Serial No..748,5 19

4 Claims. (C1. 81121) This invention relates to a wheel nut wrench forautomotive-vehicles, and has forits principal object the provision of awrench which will be self-supporting, and automatically aligning.

It is exceedingly diflic'ult to remove the wheel nuts from large,truck-type wheels, especially when they have become set or fixed fromlon disuse. It is usually necessary to support the wheel wrench with onehand which allows but a single hand to be used..for,ia plying-force forrotating the nut. :w J

Another. object of this. invention is to provide means which can bequickly and easily placed on the. hub of a wheel, and which willautomatically align the wheel wrench with each nut to be removed, andalso support the wrench in alignment with the said nut, so that theoperator can use both hands for loosening and rotating the nut.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the in vention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a typical automotive wheel of the truck type,illustrating the improved wrench in place thereon;

Fig. 2 illustrates a vertical section across the hub of the wheel, takenon the line 2-2, Fig. 1, illustrating the construction of the improvedwrench; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section, taken on the line 3-3, Fig. 2.

In the drawing, a conventional wheel is illustrated at II), with itstire at H and its hub at l2. The wheel I!) is usually secured to a wheelflange l3 by means of threaded studs M and wheel clamping nuts Hi. Thisinvention is designed for the removal and replacement of the nuts [5.The improved wrench employs a hub cup 16 of a size to slip over the hubl2 and be secured in place thereon by means of a suitable set screw [1.The outer face of the cup 16 is provided with a circular bearing bossl8, upon which an annular ring plate I9 is rotatably mounted. The ringplate I9 is held in place on the boss l8 by means of a circular capplate 20 secured thereon by means of suitable cap screws 2|.

The cap plate 20 carries a plunger 22 terminat ing at its outer end in afinger button 23. The plunger passes through a spring sleeve 24 in whicha compression spring 25, iscompressed by means of a spring cap 26.Th-e'spring acts againsta pin-21 on the plunger 22 to constantly urgethe inner extremity of the latter toward the plate [9.

The plate I 9 is provided with a plurality of plunger-receiving holes 28corresponding in numliJg'r and in angular placement to the wheel studsA'bracketarm 29"extends radially outward from the plate. [9 and supportsa wrench bearing sleeve 30; A wrench shaft 3| extends through thebearing sleeve 30, it beingboth slidable and rotatable'in the latter.'One extremity of the shaft 3| is square, as shown at 32, to receive aconventional socket wrench 33. The other extremity carries a T fitting34, through which a handle bar 35 extends. The handle bar may be set inany projecting position by means of a set screw 36.

The wrench bearing sleeve 30 is positioned to align the axis of theshaft 3| with the bolt circle of the studs l4 and parallel to the axisof the wheel hub l2.

In use, the cup I6 is slipped over the extremity of the hub I2, and thesocket wrench 33 is slipped over one of the nuts l5. The set screw ii isthen tightened to lock the cup it on the hub l2.

The handle is now rotated to loosen the nut 15, after which the plunger22 is pulled outwardly torelease it from one of the holes 28, and theplate is rotated until the plunger 22. engages the next hole 28. Thisaligns the socket wrench with the next nut, which is removed by rotatingthe handle member 35. This is successively continued throughout theentire series of nuts Hi.

It will be noted that the operator does not need to support the wrench,nor does he need to align it with the nuts. This is done automaticallyby the plunger 22 engaging the holes 28. In fact, after the wrench hasbeen placed upon the first nut, all of the remaining nuts can be removedor replaced even in the dark.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may bevaried, within the scope of the appended claims, Without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is: l. A wheel wrench for removing wheel nuts from awheel having an annular series of wheel nuts surrounding a central,projecting hub, comprising: a hub cup arranged to slip over theprojecting extremity of said hub; a wrench-carrying member mounted onsaid hub cup, said wrench-carrying member being rotatable about said hubcup; a wrench bearing sleeve carried by said carrying member; a wrenchshaft slidably and rotatably passing through said bearing sleeveparallel to the axis of said wheel and in alignment with said nuts; asocket wrench on the inner extremity of said wrench shaft to receivesaid nuts; and a handle member on the outer extremity of said shaft torotate thelatter.

2. A wheel wrench for removing wheelnuts from a wheel having an annularserlesof wheel' nuts surrounding a central, projecting hub,,com-

prising: a hub cup arranged to slip over the projecting extremity ofsaid hub; a wrenchcarrying member mounted on said hub cup; saidwrench-carrying member being rotatable about said hub cup; a wrenchbearing sleeve carried by said carrying member; va wrench shaft slidablyand .rotatably passing through said bearing sleeve parallel to the axisof said wheel and in. alignment with said nuts; a socket wrench on theinner extremity of said wrench shaft toreceive said nuts; and a handlemember on-the outer extremity of said shaft to rotate the latter;andmeans for preventing rotation of said carrying member when saidsocket wrench has aligned with one of said nuts.

3. A wheel wrench for removing wheel nuts from a wheel having an.annular series of wheel nuts surrounding a central, projecting hulmcomprising: a hub cup arranged to slip over the projecting extremity ofsaid hub; a concentric bearing boss projecting from said cup; anannular, rotatable plate mounted on said boss; a cap member holding saidplate on said boss; a wrench bearing sleeve carried by said plate; awrench shaft slidably and rotatably mounted in said bearing sleeveparallel to the axis of said hub and in alignment with said nuts; asocket wrench on the inner extremity of said wrench shaft; and handlemeans on the outer extremity thereof.

4 A fwheel wrench 'for' removing wheel nuts from a wheel having anannular series 'of wheel nuts surrounding a central, projecting hub,comprising: a hub cup arranged to slip over the projeetingextremity ofsaid hub; a concentric bearing boss projecting from said cup; anannular, rotatable plate mounted on said boss; a cap a member holdingsaid plate on said boss; a wrench bearing sleeve carried by said plate;a wrench shaft slidably and rotatably mounted in said bearing sleeveparallel to the axis of said hub and in alignment with said nuts; asocket wrench on the inner extremityof said wrench shaft;- and handlemeans on the outer extremity thereof;

- and locking meansv for locking said plate against The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

s'ra'ms ra'rsurrs Number I Name Date 1,385,227 Pyron 1 July :19, 19211,778,055 vAlinder et al. Oct. 14,1930

636,456 Sauls et a1 NOV. "1, 1899

